I've been transported to the orc continent.

Zhan personally led his people over. When they saw the mountain of iron ore piled up in the cave, Zhan's serious expression relaxed slightly. He patted Bai Ling on the shoulder and said, "Ling, you did a good job."

Although he didn't know what the iron ore was used for, Zhan was still gratified that Ling had such a high opinion of these stones and had led people to collect so many.

Yue also came over. He and his friend Xiao hadn't seen each other for several days. As soon as they met, Xiao pulled Yue aside and started talking to him in a low voice.

While talking to Clan Chief Zhan, Bai Ling also kept an eye on Yue's movements. He didn't know what Yue had said, but Yue's face turned slightly red and his eyes became somewhat unfocused. Then, Yue looked over at Bai Ling, and their eyes met in mid-air. Bai Ling nodded slightly to Yue and then went back to talking to Clan Chief Zhan.

Yue's face turned even redder.

*

All the iron ore was transported back and piled up in two heaps not far from the iron smelting workshop. Before searching for the iron ore, Bai Ling had agreed with the clan chief that half of the iron ore found would belong to Bai Ling and the other half to the clan. Now, one of the two heaps of iron ore belongs to Bai Ling and the other to the clan.

Bai Ling took out some more iron ore from his own collection and distributed a basket to each of the tribesmen who worked with him.

Zhan found him twenty-five clansmen, and each of them had a basket, which made twenty-five baskets in total. Bai Ling had already given away almost a quarter of them.

Chief Zhan hadn't left yet. Seeing Bai Ling's actions, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and his expression seemed to be a mixture of satisfaction and praise. He pointed to the pile of iron ore belonging to the clan and said, "Ling, we agreed that the clansmen would provide you with manpower, and you would share the ironware you made with the clan. Now that you've shared your iron ore with the clansmen who were with you, I can't be stingy. How about this, you get ten more baskets of iron ore from the clan. That's fair."

Bai Ling waved her hand, but before she could refuse, Zhan continued, "Ling, this matter is settled. I've heard you say that iron ore needs to be refined and forged to become ironware. You still need manpower here, so the iron ore distributed to the clansmen will serve as payment."

"Once all this iron ore is used up, we'll have to collect new iron ore and pay for forging ironware."

Bai Ling thought about it and felt that Zhan was right. There was never any work done for free in the tribe. The tribesmen also had to contribute to the iron smelting and ironware forging. These iron ore were considered as payment for this time. In the future, if tribesmen were to work, they would have to be paid.

"Okay, that's settled."

*

The first step in iron smelting is to find iron ore, and the second step is to burn charcoal.

Bai Ling was burning charcoal in the tribe's pottery kiln. It had been four days since the kiln was sealed, and it was time to open it.

Bai Ling placed his hand on the pottery kiln. The clay inside was warm, but not scalding. Bai Ling didn't know if the charcoal had been successfully made. If it hadn't, he would have to continue making charcoal.

Bai Ling and Yue dug open the door of the pottery kiln together. As soon as the stones were moved, a wave of heat rushed out, along with a choking fumes.

Fortunately, Bai Ling and Yue were prepared and stepped aside as soon as the stones were moved, thus avoiding being covered in smoke.

After the smoke and heat dissipated, Yue went over to take a look: "Ling, it's still a bit hot inside the kiln, but you can still go in."

Bai Ling: "Let's wait a while, let the smoke dissipate before going in."

Yue said, "It's alright, I'm not afraid of the heat. Ling, let me go in first and see if the charcoal is burning properly."

Before Bai Ling could answer, Yue bent down and went inside. Bai Ling followed her in. It was a bit warm inside the kiln, but compared to the cold outside, the temperature inside was more comfortable. However, the air inside was not very good and was a bit choking.

Bai Ling and Yue each carried a basket of charcoal out. As soon as they came out, the other tribesmen immediately went inside, and in no time, all the charcoal in the pottery kiln was carried out.

Bai Ling put down the basket and took out a piece of charcoal. The surface of the charcoal was uneven and had many pores. When he tapped it lightly, the sound was crisper than that of wood. Bai Ling used a stone axe to smash a piece of charcoal, and the inside of the charcoal was completely black.

This proves that the charcoal has been successfully fired.

Bai Ling was overjoyed. He put down the stone axe and went to examine the other charcoal. Only then did he realize that he had been too happy. Some of the charcoal looked black on the surface, but the inside was still wood. It could only be considered half a success.

These charcoal pieces that were not fully fired had fewer pores on their surface and felt heavier. Bai Ling asked the clansmen who carried these charcoal pieces out and learned that they were carried out from the very back of the kiln.

The charcoal that had been burned and the charcoal that had not been burned each accounted for about half. Bai Ling didn't know exactly what was going on, but even half of the charcoal was enough for him to smelt iron.

After cleaning the kiln, Bai Ling and her people transported all the firewood into it and stacked it neatly. Then they lit the kiln and began the second round of charcoal burning.

Bai Ling decided to burn the charcoal for a longer time this time. The first batch of charcoal burned for a day and a night, so the second batch would burn for another half day. That way, perhaps all the charcoal in the kiln could be burned by then.

The charcoal that has been burned is sent to smelt iron, and the charcoal that has not been burned is not wasted, but is transported back to the tribe for cooking.

*

Knowing that Bai Ling was going to smelt iron, the clansmen were very curious. However, Zhan did not allow all the clansmen to enter the area. The iron smelting process needed to be kept secret for the time being, and the entire clansman could not know the details.

Bai Ling first laid a layer of firewood on the open ground, poured the iron ore on top of the firewood, and then lit the firewood. Iron ore has a relatively high melting point, so it wouldn't completely melt if left on the open wood. Bai Ling did this step to remove impurities from the iron ore.

Because a layer of iron ore was laid on top, the firewood did not burn fiercely, but instead produced thick smoke. In addition to the bluish-black smoke from the burning firewood, there were also plumes of yellowish-red smoke rising up, which was the smoke from the burning iron ore.

The smoke was harmful to the human body, so after the firewood was lit, Bai Ling led his people to retreat to the side.

Iron ore that has been burned once cannot be smelted into iron; it must be broken up first.

A thick layer of charcoal is placed in the blast furnace, followed by crushed iron ore, and then a thin layer of limestone powder. Another layer of charcoal, iron ore, and limestone powder is added, and so on, until the furnace is two-thirds full.